Theatre review Successful debut for English-speaking theatre group

Bonn · A new English-speaking theatre group Moving Targets staged its first production at the weekend - a moving family portrait of broken relationships.

Shattered remains. Nothing else is left of the Hausmanns. Shattered remains and a house that seems as ruined as the family itself; loveable and charming but full of unsolved problems. The newly formed Bonn theatre group Moving Targets has brought Stephen Beresford’s play “The Last of the Hausmanns” to the German stage for the first time in an entertaining and moving debut. The English-speaking production at the Brotfabrik thrilled the audience thanks to extremely strong character depictions.

At the centre of events is mother Judy (brilliant: Janine Lockwood-Brusa), a former hippie who welcomes her two children home after a small cancer operation. They each have their own problems: homosexual Nick (Philipp Gierenstein) is addicted to drugs, alcohol and unattainable men, while Libby (Esther Takats) cannot hold onto her constantly changing partners and has an equally difficult relationship with her rebellious daughter Summer (Clara Clasen) as her mother had with her. Then there is a doctor (Mike Nyandeika) and a young pool boy (Ben Heering) who has designs on Libby and who is desired by Nick. A situation which can only lead to disaster.

As excellent as the whole cast is, giving a lot of shape to the broken family, it is Lockwood-Brusa who holds the whole play together. Although Judy sometimes lives in a dream world and does not see the suffering of the son she idolises or Libby’s despair as the only one who is trying to stop the family sliding into poverty, she is as a result the only happy character in the whole play.

Lockwood-Brusa portrays this with fantastic ease and insouciance, cheerfully chatting and constantly drinking, always candid and always present. But the performance becomes really strong when Judy’s health drastically deteriorates and Lockwood-Brusa is so tormented on a couch that it almost breaks your heart. Such an intense performance is perfect theatre. It says something for the whole cast that they can keep up with this standard, especially Esther Takats, who understands how to call on a whole range of emotions and whose Libby is a strong counterpart to Judy.

Truly a terrific production. We can only hope that further productions will follow in the future.

Original text: Thomas Kölsch. Translated by Kate Carey.

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